Morgan vs The Turkey
by lipeviez
Summary: Morgan is tasked with a mission to get the perfect turkey for Ellie's Thanksgiving and supermarket obstacles occur. Set the year before the show begins. Quick one-shot. Morgan/OC


**Author Note: just a one-shot I'd been mulling over. Thought Morgan could use some lighthearted pre-show fun.**

* * *

Chuck was straightening his work tie and walked into the kitchen. He chuckled when he saw the note to him from Ellie on the fridge.

_Chuck, you have one job to do today. Get the turkey. I'm going to be at work all day and I need to start the thaw for it to be ready for Thursday. Remember, 15.5 lbs. Not 15.4, not 15.6. Love, Ellie_

"I know, sis, got the info right here in my pocket," whispered Chuck under his breath. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the piece of paper he'd used to jot down all of Ellie's instructions.

"15.5 lb turkey. Not 15.4, not 15.6…" Chuck rattled off the brand, amount of scratches on the plastic wrapping, etc. He was used to Ellie's frantic nerves as Thanksgiving approached. The turkey had to be in the fridge by 6 tonight for her to be comfortable with its thawing progress. Chuck opened the fridge and saw the tray already set up.

His plan was to head to the supermarket after cutting out of work an hour or so early. That was the plan anyway. At 3 o'clock he was leaving the Nerd Herd desk when Big Mike called him over to say there was a high priority customer that needed help with an install which would take a few hours. High priority meant he was the only one Mike trusted for the job. But the turkey…

Morgan was in the break room goofing off and waiting for Chuck. He was done with work for the day and Chuck said he'd give him a ride home.

"Hey Morgan, I can't give you a ride. I have to get to this install ASAP. Can you do me a favor?"

"Install, c'mon, man, you need to stand up to Big Mike and tell him to stop sending you on these last minute installs. What are Jeff and Lester for? Or Anna? They're Nerd Herd, right?"

"It's high priority. Anna could probably handle it but she's out today and Big Mike hates sending Jeff and Lester on high priority installs. Now, about that favor?"

"I don't have my bike today, dude. My mom dropped me off, now I have to call her?" Morgan continued grumbling to himself.

"Morgan. Morgan!" Chuck grew increasingly frustrated. "Morgan, it's for Ellie."

"Ellie? What?"

Chuck had his full attention now. He hated taking advantage of his best friend like this but he needed to go and he also needed someone he knew would stop at nothing to make sure Ellie got exactly what she wanted. He reached into his pocket and slowly handed the instructions to Morgan.

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get the Thanksgiving turkey for Ellie. She's counting on you."

Morgan gingerly took the piece of paper and glanced at it.

"Did Ellie say she wanted me to get it?" Morgan asked hopefully.

"No," Chuck answered truthfully, "But who else is going to come through for her? I'm out. Install. That leaves you, buddy. I'll call to tell her you're on it. You're her only hope."

Morgan pursed his lips and nodded. Then he grabbed his cell phone to arrange a ride home and then to the supermarket.

*::::*

Morgan walked into the supermarket armed with a shopping cart, Ellie's instructions in one pocket, and his mom's shopping list in the other. His eyes surveyed the scene, making note of how crowded it was. He chuckled at the last minute shoppers. Then again, he was one of them. Morgan knew he needed to be quick so that the lines weren't completely full when he had to check out.

His mom only needed a few things so Morgan headed straight to the meat section. There was a small crowd around the frozen wrapped turkeys. Morgan glanced one more time at Ellie's instructions. 15.5lbs.

"Okay, Morgan. This is it," he muttered to himself. Taking a deep breath, he confidently walked over, elbowed his way in, ignored the complaints, and started scanning the labels for the right weight.

So focused was he on the turkey labels, he didn't notice the woman next to him smirking down at his serious face.

"15.5, 15.5, 15.5," Morgan kept whispering to himself as he rolled one turkey away after another. Then he spotted it, but before he could grab it, he saw it picked up by the woman next to him, who walked it over to her cart and dropped it in.

"Hey!" he called, "I was going to grab that… I… I need that one." Morgan walked over to her and for the first time noticed that she was around his age, attractive with shoulder-length blue hair. _More like a bob_, he thought. He ignored the nervousness, determined to not fail in his mission for Ellie.

"You snooze, you lose," she answered with a smile, pushing her cart away.

"Wait, I'll… I'll give you five bucks for it!"

Her only reply was a laugh and shake of her head. But she turned around, her eyes twinkling at him. Morgan saw it for the dare it was. If he wanted that turkey, he would need to take it from her. Operation Ellie's Turkey wasn't over yet.

*::::*

Morgan first made sure there were no other 15.5lb turkeys. Then he kept his distance while he followed her to the dairy section. He wasn't sure she noticed him but at minimum she wasn't looking in his direction. A full-on assault would be faster so he pushed his cart forward, rammed it into hers, and while she jumped back to avoid being hurt, he grabbed the turkey and put it in his cart. But before he could pull his cart and get away, a very large, muscular man blocked his escape.

"Hey, did you just steal that turkey from this lady's cart?"

"N-n-n-no! I didn't… I was… we were just…" Morgan glanced at the woman, eyes pleading for help, as the man stared down at him waiting for the okay to crush him.

"Thank you so much, yes, the turkey is mine," she said and walked over, lifting the turkey from Morgan's cart and placing it in her own. "But we were just playing. No harm done."

Morgan was surprised at the save and even more surprised when she winked at him. The muscular man walked away with a humph.

"Thanks," Morgan said, his shoulders sagging in relief.

"You'll have to do better than that, turkey boy," the blue-haired woman challenged, pushing her cart to the next aisle.

Morgan smiled to himself.

For the next twenty minutes, Morgan tried and failed at taking the turkey away. She was beautiful and cunning. He'd gotten a store employee to distract her while he made away with the turkey only to find himself at the end of the same ploy from a different employee before he could get to the checkout line. He'd used the cover of a crowded aisle to sneak past her cart but didn't notice her waiting at the end of the aisle with her hands outstretched. For whatever reason, they had an unspoken agreement that he wouldn't push passed her when caught; that he would hand it over like a gentleman. It was beginning to look like he would fail Ellie after all.

A text alert on his phone made him sigh in defeat. It was 4:45.

"Girlfriend telling you to give her a call?"

Morgan looked up surprised to see his blue-haired adversary approach him, no cart of hers in sight.

"No, no girlfriend. Best friend. He's just checking in to make sure I got the turkey."

"Ah. Texts are impersonal, you know. Tell your friend to call next time."

He was at a loss for a reply. _Did this girl not like technology or something?_

"By the way," she continued, "Why do you need that particular turkey so badly? Not that I'm going to let you have it. Call it professional curiosity."

"Ellie needs it. That's Chuck's sister, I mean, my best friend's sister. It's for her Thanksgiving…" Morgan trailed off when he saw the knowing look on the girl. "Anyway, look, you win. I've gotta get going."

"Okay, turkey boy," she smiled again. She smiled a lot, Morgan noticed. He liked it. But before he had a chance to reply she was already walking away.

Morgan quickly went to the produce section and grabbed the few things on his mom's list and then pushed his turkey-less cart to the check-out area and sighed again. They were all full. It would be a long wait. He typed out a reply text to Chuck and braced himself for boredom. _This isn't the only supermarket_, he thought. He'll go to another. He could still make the 6pm deadline.

At the car, he was loading the few bags of groceries into the trunk. When he closed it, he saw her standing next to his cart, holding the turkey.

"You forgot this," she said with a sly smile, handing over the turkey.

Stunned, he held out his hands and took it from her.

"You didn't have to do that. I mean, why are you doing that? I mean…" Morgan was flustered. She was smiling at him and he couldn't breathe.

"What can I say, I like determined guys," she answered simply. "My name's Lila."

"M-m-morgan. I'm Morgan. And yeah, I guess you could say I'm kind of determined. No, um, very determined. Determined Morgan, that's me," he rambled, and cursed himself for not being able to shut up. She laughed, though. He saw that as a good sign.

The trunk clicked open and there was a brief honk on the car's horn. Morgan winced as he saw Lila lean to look at who was driving, saw the recognition on her face, and hoped against hope that she would be kind.

"Your mom?" Lila asked softly.

"Yeah. I don't really have a car…" _Morgan, you idiot!_ he screamed inwardly.

"I see. Well, it's been fun, Morgan. I guess I'll see you around." She smiled again, waved, and walked away to her car.

He should've run over to her. He should've asked for her number. But it was too late. She was driving away. _I'm such a loser._ He groaned and looked skyward.

He glanced at his watch. There was no more time to feel sorry for himself. It was time to go.

*::::*

Morgan's mom drove him straight to Chuck's. He grabbed the turkey from the trunk and ran to the apartment. He took some calming breaths, it was 6pm, and he was on time. Then he knocked. He waited to see Ellie's smile. The thought of her being happy to see him for once made him warm all over. Ellie opened the door.

"Morgan! Where have you been?! I got home five minutes ago and you were supposed to be here by now."

Ellie grabbed the turkey and carried it inside to the kitchen. Morgan entered and closed the door behind him. It wasn't the welcome he had hoped for but she said his name so that was a win in his book.

He walked over to the kitchen to watch Ellie work. He glanced down at the plastic wrapping that had been on the turkey and for the first time noticed something. A paper stuck to it.

Morgan ran over and grabbed the plastic from Ellie before she could put it in the trash.

"Morgan, what the hell?"

He didn't answer. He pulled the paper off that had been stuck to the wrapper and slowly walked back into the living room. It was Lila's phone number. A little smudged from the condensation on the turkey's wrapping but still legible.

"What was that?" Ellie asked distractedly. She was very focused on getting the turkey onto the pan and sticking it in the refrigerator. Morgan could tell she was indifferent to whether he answered her question or not.

"Nothing," he replied, pocketing the note. "I've gotta get home. Tell Chuck I'll call him later."

Ellie nodded absentmindedly as she finished cleaning up in the kitchen.

Out in the courtyard, Morgan brought out the note to look at the number again. She'd written it down before she saw that he was with his mom. The memory of it made him cringe. But she had a chance to grab the note back afterward and didn't. That thought made him cringe even more. He was not used to this. The ball was in his court to call. _Should I call? Of course I should call. Chuck would tell me to call. I can't tell Chuck about this. Chuck would make me call! _

Morgan took out his phone and looked at the phone number. _Maybe a text?_


End file.
